


The Pastry Baker of Inkopolis

by AssassinD



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Cooking, Human, Multi, Other, Pastries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 00:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20398714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AssassinD/pseuds/AssassinD
Summary: A human lucky enough to avoid the damages of the flood during cryostasis comes out, originally planned to be a culinary pastry chef among a large group of people, being the only survivor of this group was not expected. Now, he has come to realize humans are no longer around, and is terrified at what his life would become if discovered. Despite this, he still has to procure food and make a living, so why not put his profession into practice?Donning the clothing left behind by his friends, and strapping them around his head to cover his ears, hair, and mouth, he must now pretend to be one of the residents of Inkopolis as he sells his delicious foods, hoping to avoid being the center of the world's attention.Too bad pastries didn't exist in Inkopolis before he "invented" them.





	The Pastry Baker of Inkopolis

# The Pastry Baker of Inkopolis

## Awakening

In a quiet, musky, and barnacle covered structure down at the newly water-freed beaches that bordered the city currently known as "Inkopolis," one could scarcely find any life, and the inklings themselves fear going near the sea that licks the buildings base. Inside laid treasures and memento of the humans from a long gone age, water logged and worn, but recognizable even to this age by its original makers. monitors which once lined the desks, strewn about by the ebb and flow of the sea back when the building was initially buried in its depths. A game console also lay next to one specific monitor, something known by even inklings as human make, would've been the biggest indicator this area has yet to be discovered by octolings and inklings. Though the biggest evidence of all, lay still as they were those long 12 thousand years ago, were the human skeletons of a hopeful project to preserve themselves into the future. A sad fate for most, but a fate met by all humans non-the-less, or at least, that's what the octolings and inklings believed. For among those skeletons, each of which held in an egg-like container, there was one who still had all his skin and bones. Asleep he was still, his time to awaken would come in just a moment, as the job of his container was not yet finished. Unlike the others, this particular machine was lucky enough to be shielded from the damages of the sea pushing objects into it and damaging it thanks to a structural collapse that occurred mere moments before the greatest flood the humans faced hit. while the rubble didn't pierce the floor upon its falling, once could see that it smashed the pod next to our living human speciman, fell over him, as another smashed the pod to his other side, doing the same. This cover likely kept his pod from being smashed by the rest of the debris as the placement made it so the rest that fell upon him would damage the pods next to him more than his own. Luck would have it that the debris that did fall upon his cover would find itself to the back or front of his pod, stacked up and held in place by carving into the ground and the pods around him, as well as their own weight.

This lovely and lucky disaster born barricade kept the human's pod safe, but after the water receded, the warmth of light was slowly starting to dry the seaweed and moss that had since covered the hole made in the ceiling above. As the light gained purchase into the building, so too did the longstanding debris start to shift to the now present heat born of it, the structural integrity after long withering tide and time now hyper vulnerable to the erosion of said heat. Ever so slightly, parts of the hole that the dried seaweed had grown into would fall and start to open up the plant matter plug. Their devices were designed to activate due to solar power, long after the flood should have occurred, so his moment of awakening was soon. Unfortunately, the matter of the debris placed above him still did exist. This wasn't a problem for long, as his pod was the last to activate, meaning the others were due first.

These pods, all of them, were designed to be able to open with the force to push a small amount of debris out of the way, just in case the building DID collapse. One by one, the light pouring through the ceiling would activate pod after pod. The process would've been quicker if the windows as well weren't long since filled with both plant matter and rubble. Pod by pod, each giving off a futuristic sound, opened up, until finally, the pods on both his sides started to pop open. The debris to his front, shoved away with the creaking effort of the pods, the door ways thankfully saved by being just a bit too low to be crushed by the debris that smashed the top of the pod, though the windows of the doors were still broken despite the cover of the debris. A loud scraping sound could be heard from the debris on the floor being pushed away, until a loud boom of the debris overhead the primary pod fell, due to leaning the direction the debris was pushed, now leaning against the skin present human's pod, scraping the glass as it fell.

Now the light had finally pierced the ceiling, and due to its placement, was hitting directly upon our human's pod, providing it the energy needed to heat up the internal temperature and apply the needed medication for re-awakening. The process was longer due to the other pods already having external heat flood in from the broken glass or ripped open exteriors. Eventually, his pod too, finally opened, pushing away the debris that fell in front of him. He was already in the process of waking up thanks to the process, but its clear that the scraping of the large debris brought him out of his stupor with a jump and a yell.

"HOLY S-" he interrupted himself from his shout by coughing and wheezing, having initially gasped in shock and inhaling the dust born from years of neglect thrown up by the most recent string of movement from the facility. He tries to take a step out of the pod, but falls to his knees as he continues to wretch, desperately trying to clear his throat. Shortly after falling, he turns around to go back into his pod realizing it was the stale air outside causing this. Now he is also choking on his saliva in his haste to inhale for more clean air at the back of his pod. After a few minutes he had finally hacked his throat clear of millennia born dust and panicked mistake. Now he pulls himself back out of the pod, holding his breath and looking around for a less air born dust cropping nearby, not wanting to have another coughing fit. After surveying the area, he spots the perfect place to move to next, the air tight, highly alloyed stainless steel lockers made specifically to last any number of years of corrosion and impact, nailed deep into the ground with similar materials to be easy to find in case an emergency occurred shortly after waking up. Seeing he was the first up, he happily approached the lockers with breath still held, hand over his mouth and nose, before glancing to his friends pods as well.

His foot stops in place as he stares wide eyed in shock. He knows who the skeleton was before him, and sees his cracked skull and water damaged clothing. His mouth is hung open as his hand drops, now no longer caring or feeling the invasion of dust in his mouth and lungs. Compared to the shock of seeing his friends bones, the dust was a minor annoyance. The human looks to the other pods, seeing they were all in a similarly damaged stated, the evidence of being crushed, and glass broken. He speaks to nobody, his voice cracked from an extremely long time of non-use, "But, the pods were supposed to be able to withstand falling debris underwater...." before looking to his own once again. He examines it closely at the top, and sees dents formed on the left and right side of the top of his pod, as well as one directly on top, before looking at the debris around him, seeing cracks and indentations in the debris that suggest a much harder impact than expected. Silently, he realizes as he looks up, that something must've caused the ceiling to break before the flood even hit. He's no expert on construction, but even he can see the damage around him isn't lessened by weightlessness water provides. He yells in fury shortly after realizing exactly what happened, before take a withered chair and throwing it against the wall, easily smashing through it due to the damage the drywall had suffered in the millennia that passed.

He breathes, trying to calm himself down, desperately so, before he shakes his head and hopes against hope, that maybe, someone, anyone in one of these pods is still alive. What if one of them woke up and got away? What if one of them didn't hold a skeleton? In his mind, it was clear he was begging for something to be not as he thought, before finding each pod truly held a skeleton version of someone he knew, him becoming more depressed and desperate with each one he looked. Finally, after the 12th and final pod, he stared at the skeleton of the woman before him. He was no longer silently pleading, nor could he even make a noise if he wanted as he stared. a minute or two after staring, he felt the need to set up a nearby chair and desk, just to sit down. He felt empty, wanting to feel something, but he couldn't say what because he felt so cold and unsettled. It wasn't until he sat down and held his head, while thinking of his lost loved ones that it finally hit him, as tears welled up in his eyes. His raspy and therefore quiet wails falling upon nobodies ears, uncaring for the dust flowing about from his anguish.

It was some time after his voice completely gave out, and his cries long turning silent, that the thirst born from his slumber and tears had torn him from his condition. With shaky breaths he calmed himself, before finally finishing the approach to his initial objective, the lockers. He avoided looking at the pods, as he used his personal combination to open his locker, and take out one of 6 bottled waters saved. The long preserved water sealed shut, saving it from the contamination of foreign materials. Though the water was warm, it still parched his throat and gave him clarity. with an exhale of air, having downed the whole bottle, he reached for another, doing the same. After the second bottle, without so much as glancing at the rest of his saved storage, he finally closed it, and sat back down in his desk.

No longer breaking down, he simply stared at the wood to distract his mind, his own breathing being the greatest distraction, and then finally, he worked up the nerve to look at the pods. He approached them, before going in front of the pod he was most familiar with, staring into the empty holes of the skeleton where the eyes of his closest friend once were held. "I...." He started, unsure of what exactly he wanted; no, **needed **to say. He starts again with a shaky voice, "I promised you I would do my best to survive the coming end. You told me- " He takes a breath to calm himself, "You told me that you wanted to be able to share a laugh and celebrate our birthdays and lives with delicious food with everyone, and that you wanted me there to make the food and to laugh along side you." He stares at him, before wiping his eyes of his tears, "Well, here I am, still alive...." He stares down, trying to choke back his once again oncoming emotions, taking another breath before continuing, "I wanted you, and everyone else to be there as well," he looks over to the other pods, "ALL of you." He takes a step back, "but.... I'm the only one left.... God why am I the only one left?" He says to nobody in particular, he inhales, and exhales once again, desperately trying to keep his composure, before continuing, "This.... I never expected this, to be honest, I've NEVER been lucky, and.... Well, I'm still not, at least, I don't FEEL lucky, but here I am, the one that wanted everyone else to live, the **_USELESS_**-" He kicks a desk over as he yells, "chef, and I was aware, I was FULLY aware," His sobbing returns, "That all of you knew I was just a luxury, a friend who could cook well, what use other than joy could I serve!" He looks to one deceased friend in particular, before saying to her corpse, "And you! You had more right to live than me, you led this project, you invested in the supplies, you WORKED to live, you SAVED.... You ATTEMPTED to save all our lives...." He was now crying, "I.... Just.... Why? Why me...."

He fell to his knees, falling onto his hands sobbing, his emotions forcing him to fall, as his tears once again flowed and cleaned the dust from the floor. He did so until he fell to his side, blowing the dust away from his face, and wiping the tear from his eyes once again, before rolling onto his back. He laid there, once again trying to calm himself down, breathing slowly....

"I can't do this forever." After a long time of laying there, he finally said. "I can't lay here and risk dying from this building finally collapsing and finishing the rest of us off." He rolls to his side once again, to look at the skeletons of those he cared for, before pushing himself back up. Tears still in his eyes, sobbing still, he approached his best friends pod. "I remember, you told me your locker combination, right? I don't think I can open the other lockers without special tools, but I think I could still...." He had wanted to say "use you" but the wording left a pit in his stomach and wasn't what he meant, "I could still save myself with your help." He turned away after saying this, his breathing even and calm the whole time to keep his mind clear. He put in his friend's combination into his locker before opening it up. His best friend's duty to the group was supposed to be an electrician, someone who could make sure that the marvel of electrical power would still be within their grasp, and in the worst case, could provide heating if the climate had changed to extremely cold degrees. Inside his locker, there was another backpack, a solar powered portable battery, a flashlight, and to the living human's amusement, a bandanna, beanie, and a leather jacket. The memory of his friend talking about the world becoming Mad Max brought an exhale of amusement from him, lifting his low spirits just a bit. He dug under the clothing, and managed to find his friend's cell phone as well. 

He stared at it before checking to see if it was dead or not, now hearing the familiar jingle of it turning on. "Well, since me and him have the same phone, I guess that means mine works," he says before he takes out what's in his friend's locker and puts it onto the desk he shared his sadness with. Once that is done, he then goes to his own locker and pops it open, actually remembering to think about what's inside. Inside his own locker is of course his phone which was still charged, a backpack, as well as various baking supplies, from flour, to sugar, to yeast, icing and frosting mix, various baking pans, a rag, and even a small portable oven to cook pastries in. He glanced over at his friend's portable battery, likely still fully charged, and decided to make himself a single cupcake to pick his spirits up. He had the ingredients to spare, and knew the battery his friend had was heavy duty and could power his oven for possibly days. It took him only around 20 minutes, mixing the icing as well while the batter baked, covering the muffing in icing, letting it cool to harden. He used a spare water bottle and a rag to clean the dishware while it did so, before taking it back to his desk and chair, moving them in front of the pods. Looking up, he lifts the cupcake into the air, saying, "To survival."

He ate it in solemn silence, taking time to enjoy it and let the taste distract him like so many other things before. He didn't care to color the icing, as it was plain white, no sprinkles, on spongy pastry bread. He sighed in content, "Sorrow loves sweets." He says before getting up, and stretching so hard his back pops, "Well everyone, its time for me to get to go, I hope you all rest in peace and cheer me on as I find out what's happened while we've been gone...." He smiles at them, a spike of sorrow hitting him again, but he swallows it back down along with a little icing, making it easier to keep his smile. He goes over to his friend's clothes, puts them on, bandanna and beanie included, and uses the extra pockets inside the leather jacket to hold onto the portable battery, the pair of phones, and then started to stuff the kitchen supplies into his own backpack, and the portable oven into his friends backpack, and then putting on both backpacks on his front and back. He goes to leave through the door, taking one last look at the pods, before finally exiting the building.

**Author's Note:**

> So something to keep in mind, this is the prologue to establish our main protagonist. Next chapter we'll start seeing inklings and the various problems that come from their uh.... Differences, and the efforts the protagonist employs to hide his human nature. Look forward to it.
> 
> (Also I know the beginning is depressing, but come on guys, he just got hit with the knowledge a large portion of the people he once cared for and expected to either live or die along side him are all simply dead without him. I'd imagined that hits hard. Don't worry though, he drops them from his mind for his own sake though out MOST of the story.)


End file.
